Introducing – Steve
by Administrator on Oct.10, 2009, under Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When my band went into the studio this past year to record we had the intent of making a very layered recording. For me this meant a lot of drum beats, both played live and programmed via drum machines. We’ve always been into layering, it’s part of our sound, but this time around we went overboard (in a good way – i think). The band started giving me a hard time, that I was coming up with too many beats and that I was working myself into a hole that come tour I would not be able to pull myself out of. Well I told them not to worry, that I was building a robot drummer to help me out and as usual – they just laughed.
Months earlier I had shown Josh Caldwell, an old friend of mine who was a mechanical engineering student, an idea I had for a mechanical drumming device (this was pretty much a few parts from the hardware store thrown together to get the idea across). Well to my own disbelief he called me a few weeks later and told me to meet him for lunch at Health Camp, he had something to show me. I get to lunch and he’s there with a friend of his, Eli Hernandez (another engineer) and a completely redesigned, much improved 3D computer model of the mechanical drumming device. I was so stoked.
Well life got away from us and months later we still hadn’t really messed with anything. Around mid-summer though I started getting nervous about the prospect of touring without any backup beats, so I gave Josh and Eli a call and we got to work (really I should say they got to work). We spent the next two months out at Texas State Technical College building parts, testing, prototyping and just having good old fashion machine fun. I bought a MIDI decoding circuit kit from John at Highly Liquid to convert MIDI to electronic on/off pulses and built it into an old headphone splitter box I had found at a thrift store.
The band was pretty amazed, I must say, when I showed up for tour with Steve in tow. He came strong with the beats even though he can be a bit stiff at times, but you have to admire his resilience. There has been some question as to the name “Steve” and where it comes from. Well thats another story for another time.
78 Comments for this entry
8 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry
-
David Crowder*Band – Oh, Happiness « MantrA[S2]
October 12th, 2009 on 3:05 pm[...] For those of you who love to follow along, DCB has a new member of the band: Steve3PO. Here’s Bwack’s post on him in [...]
-
Auto-drummer - Hack a Day
November 13th, 2009 on 9:15 pm[...] a cup of mechanical engineering with a dash of drum set and you end up with Steve, the robotic drummer. We know that it uses an MSA-T Midi Decoder but that’s about the extent of what has been [...]
-
Auto-Drummer « JWstudios
November 15th, 2009 on 10:14 am[...] a cup of mechanical engineering with a dash of drum set and you end up withSteve, the robotic drummer. We know that it uses an MSA-T Midi Decoder but that’s about the extent of what has been shared. [...]
-
Create Digital Music » Steve_3po and Other Robotic Drummers
December 29th, 2009 on 7:10 pm[...] Introducing – Steve [...]
-
Steve_3po and Other Robotic Drummers | uptownboogiedown
December 29th, 2009 on 8:25 pm[...] Introducing – Steve [...]
-
Round-Up: Robotic Drummers, Robotic Percussion | websla.com
January 2nd, 2010 on 7:46 pm[...] Introducing – Steve [...]
October 16th, 2011 on 8:05 am
Sweet internet site , super layout, very clean and apply friendly .
October 16th, 2011 on 11:16 am
Coverdell998@yahoo.com
October 17th, 2011 on 9:19 pm
I in addition to my buddies appeared to be looking at the nice solutions on your web page while immediately came up with a horrible suspicion I never expressed respect to you for them. All of the young boys are actually consequently glad to see them and have in effect without a doubt been making the most of them. I appreciate you for getting well thoughtful and also for finding certain magnificent ideas most people are really desirous to know about. Our own honest apologies for not expressing gratitude to you earlier.
October 18th, 2011 on 7:26 am
I am extremely inspired together with your writing talents as smartly as with the format to your weblog. Is that this a paid topic or did you modify it your self? Either way stay up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one these days.
October 19th, 2011 on 3:00 pm
A sense rigidity on the chest can be a sign that you will be obtaining chest cold. When you’re going through this condition, it may well generally end up being caused by the development of too much mucous within your the respiratory system hall. Sometimes certain coronary heart problems will also be a result of chest over-crowding, so it’s essential keep an eye on the healthiness of your chest at all times. One in the typical reasons that will trigger chest traffic jam is disease. It can be due to allergic reactions. When you leave the trouble untreated it could cause infection and this can possibly make your wellness decline.
October 25th, 2011 on 3:12 pm
Hiya! I just want to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice info you will have right here on this post. I will be coming again to your blog for extra soon.
October 29th, 2011 on 2:38 pm
The following time I learn a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my option to learn, but I truly thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you might fix if you werent too busy in search of attention.
November 10th, 2011 on 8:03 am
strongzz Excellent blog here! Also your web site loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my site loaded up as fast as yours lol
November 17th, 2011 on 8:17 pm
I’m typically to running a blog and i really admire your content. The article has really peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your site and preserve checking for brand spanking new information.
November 20th, 2011 on 6:01 am
Brooklyn area visit our page to have a look at the extensive listing of properties on our site
November 20th, 2011 on 12:19 pm
Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to present one thing back and help others like you helped me.
November 21st, 2011 on 10:43 pm
Hello right now there, only grew to become alert to your blog via Google, and found that will it is truly helpful. I’m gonna look for the city. Let me be grateful in the event you keep on this kind of in future. Plenty of people will be taken advantage of your own writing. Many thanks!
November 25th, 2011 on 12:25 pm
Many thanks!
November 27th, 2011 on 12:46 am
Hello everyone, I am sorry for being offtopic but what theme is installed on this blog? or did you create it yourself? I really like the theme here. I believe that I found one similar to your blog but I can’t remember right now.
November 30th, 2011 on 10:13 am
Thank you a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you’re talking approximately! Bookmarked. Please also discuss with my site =). We could have a link alternate arrangement between us!
November 30th, 2011 on 11:09 pm
strongzz Great goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too great. I really like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you are saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it smart.
December 7th, 2011 on 6:11 am
I want to speak about, good web page. I will be undecided if perhaps it has been resolved, however when applying Internet explorer I could under no circumstances obtain the overall web site so that you can load with no relaxing many occasions. Might just be the computer.
December 7th, 2011 on 2:05 pm
If you need an excellent rom website, check out this website UltraROM!
December 7th, 2011 on 2:37 pm
Amature Surgeon Surgical procedure Games
December 11th, 2011 on 11:04 am
My spouse and i got so relieved when Michael could carry out his survey while using the ideas he gained out of the weblog. It’s not at all simplistic to just always be giving freely methods that many people today may have been making money from. And now we consider we’ve got the blog owner to give thanks to because of that. The main explanations you’ve made, the simple website menu, the relationships you will make it possible to foster – it’s got many sensational, and it’s really facilitating our son in addition to us do think that matter is fun, and that is highly vital. Thanks for all the pieces!
December 17th, 2011 on 7:16 pm
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish only about gossips and internet and this is really annoying. A good site with exciting content, that’s what I need. Thank you for keeping this web-site, I’ll be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Cant find it.
December 17th, 2011 on 11:01 pm
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thanks, I’ll try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?
December 24th, 2011 on 1:47 pm
Hi, Great job! This is my first time i visit here. I discovered so numerous fascinating stuff in your website.
January 4th, 2012 on 6:36 pm
ones dentist establishment requires treatment of all the requirements of their clients in oral
January 7th, 2012 on 5:42 am
There is certainly apparently a good deal for me to discover outdoors of my publications. Many thanks for the fantastic read.
January 7th, 2012 on 12:26 pm
I’ve learn several excellent stuff here. Certainly value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot attempt you place to create this type of great informative website.
January 12th, 2012 on 5:26 am
Wonderful site! I truly like how it is swift on my personal face as well as the data is well written. I’m thinking buying and selling domains might be advised every time a innovative publish has been made. I’ve got activated to the rss feed which will need to help accomplish the same goal! Have a very nice morning!
January 14th, 2012 on 10:39 am
Hi there, simply turned into alert to your weblog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I am going to be careful for brussels. I will appreciate should you proceed this in future. Numerous people can be benefited from your writing. Cheers!